Image: Instagram/@juansarte
More than a week after hailing Nicko Falcis for speaking up against Kris Aquino, actress Gretchen Barretto shared screenshots of the alleged audio recording of Aquino threatening Falcis. Barretto posted these via Instagram Stories on Jan. 14.
The audio recording Barretto shared was from a post by Entertainment News Portal via YouTube account KDOT on the same day. In the recording, a woman — alleged to be Aquino — can be heard calling who seems to be Falcis a “f***ing asshole.”
“You f***ing asshole, Nicko,” the woman said. “Wag ka nang bumalik sa Pilipinas, papapatay ka ng pamilya ko (Don’t come back to the Philippines, my family will have you killed). You know what’s wrong with me? May lupus ako (I have lupus), Nicko!”
“Oh my God, madame, madame…” came the reply of the person in question.
“Thats why. Gusto mong bumalik sa Pilipinas? (You want to come back to the Philippines?) Dare to step in this country and you will be killed,” the woman continued on. “Nicko, you are making my son lose his mother any day. I do not have control of this disease and I am allergic to almost all the medication na kakailanganin (needed). Six months ago Nicko, I was okay, pinalabas mong umaarte ako pag nanghihina ako (you made it look like I was pretending to be sick whenever I would feel weak).”
“Madame, hindi po…” (No, madame.)
“Tumigil ka (Stop it). I am telling you this, step foot in the Philippines and you will be thrown into jail, Nicko,” threatened the woman. “You stole me from my sons. Nicko, alam mo (you know) I’m going to Singapore. Pag nakuha ko yung diagnosis (When I get the diagnosis), you know me, I will tell the Philippines what is wrong with me and the entire Philippines trusts me.”
The grave threats were made through long distance phone call last Sept. 27, 2018, according to a report by the Philippine Entertainment Portal on Jan. 4. Falcis, then, recalled his conversation with Aquino in the said phone call, which matches the audio recording uploaded yesterday.
Meanwhile, Aquino’s lawyer has since tagged Falcis’ allegations as “malicious” in a press conference last Jan. 5. Ricky dela Cruz of Divina Law firm said that it seems Falcis’ timing in releasing the allegations vs. his client was to stress her out because she is in a critical period. Dela Cruz, without going into specifics, referred to Aquino’s condition as an autoimmune disease.
Sigrid Fortun, another lawyer of Aquino, said that Falcis should have raised his defense during the investigation. He also noted that Falcis posted his “defenses” on social media and not through court, and that Falcis is just making excuses.
“Bakit ngayon lang lumabas na itong supposed defenses may abogado tong si Nicko Falcis?” Fortun said in the press conference. “Lahat nung kanyang ginagawa itong defenses noon pa sana.” (Why is it that these supposed defenses only came out now? Does this Nicko Falcis have a lawyer? He should have done all these defenses earlier on).
Aquino filed qualified theft charges against Falcis last November 2018 for allegedly using funds from her production company, Kristina C. Aquino Productions (KCAP) for personal use. Falcis, on his end, maintained that he never stole money from Aquino, and that she is bullying him and his family. Cody Cepeda/JB
RELATED STORIES:
Nicko Falcis says Kris funded anti-DDS blogs to protect her ‘queendom’
Gretchen Barretto hails Nicko Falcis for speaking up vs Kris Aquino